Cincinnati Bengals fans watch from the front row in the fourth quarter of the NFL Week 7 game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018. The Bengals lost 45-10, falling to 4-3 on the season.(Photo: Sam Greene)

Sad night in KC for The Men who weren’t. It’s early, I’m tired, I want to sleep for a week, so without further ado. . .

TEN THINGS

The Bengals don’t need to wonder if they’re elite anymore. That 4-1 start is now 4-3. The NFL does this to all but its best teams. Cincinnati still is very much in the January picture, and with a home game this week v. Tampa Bay, a 5-3 first half is probable, and not bad. But elite? Hardly.

The Chiefs played at a different speed. Every play, they were faster than the Bengals. They set the tone right away, going 95 yards. They were unstoppable. All night.

The Bengals didn’t tackle. At all.

The Chiefs didn’t punt. They had 33 1st downs. They averaged 8 yards every time they ran a play. They had 7 plays of at least 20 yards. This is among the best offenses we’ve seen in a couple generations. That doesn’t excuse the Bengals allowing 551 yards, or looking as if they never thought they could win.

If you find out what the deal was with the punt that wasn’t, fill me in. Lewis called it a “miscommunication’’ whatever that means. The Bengals were down only 7-0 when they messed up whatever it was they were trying to do. Early panic mode.

Speaking of. . . KC’s offense is so good, it got into the Bengals head right away. Feeling as if you have to keep up with Mahomes, Hunt, Hill, Kelce etc is a heavy yoke.

Did NBC really run a feature on Michelle Tafoya in a race car? Was the game really that dull?

The press box at Arrowhead is in suburban Wichita. Worse than Atlanta, which was worse than Indy.

Going to bed at 2 and waking up at 6 sucks. Every time.

Burfict was a big load of nothing. He missed more than a few tackles and left the game with a bad hip. How much does he help this team, really?

Now, then. . . JUSTIN TUCKER MISSED HIS 1ST XP since his junior year in high school, and it led to the Ravens 24-23 L. His reaction afterward: “If I was ever going to teach my son or any young person about accountability, I felt it was important that I stand up and answer any question you might have.”

The NFL needed to have some stones about Burfict. Fining him half a game check, $122,000, is a slap on the wrist for what appeared to be a deliberate intent to injure when Burfict elbowed a defenseless Brown in the head. The NFL thinks it can puff its chest out and say, We fined the guy $122,000. We sent a warning shot across the bow here. Nonsense. Nothing gets through to Burfict. He’s a serial cheap-shot artist.

When Burfict does this, he needs to be taken off the field, for multiple games. I don’t care if there’s going to be a knock-down fight with the union over it. This is about principle. To spend millions and to mandate for the first time ever that players must wear models of helmets approved by stringent NFL/NFLPA codes, and then allow Burfict to stay on the field after what he did and (apparently) said? What about the next time? Does any thinking person believe Burfict will never do this again? In a time of great concern about head injuries, the NFL is playing with fire here, allowing the dirtiest player in football to get away with a sanction of half a game check.

Like I said above, he keeps playing the way he has since his return from suspension, no one will need to keep him off the field.

From ESPN.com: Carolina Panthers safety Eric Reid's pregame feud with Malcolm Jenkins on Sunday extended to the postgame, when he called the Philadelphia Eagles safety a "sellout.''

Reid and Jenkins have been battling off the field since late last season when Jenkins, who co-founded the Players Coalition, stopped kneeling during the national anthem after the NFL announced it would donate $100 million to causes considered important to the coalition.

Now, then. . .

DAVID BELL could be a fine choice for the Reds. He and his dad know what good baseball teams look like, and each has big experience in all facets of a baseball organization.

If I have one knock on the pick, it’s the lack of imagination. It wasn’t an inspired choice. It was a very Cincinnati choice. We do a lot of Bringing Guys Back Home around here. This was that, again. A very safe choice.

It’s hard to get excited about any manager when you know the talent he’s managing is so far behind the Cubs, Cards and Milwaukee his leadership and strategy won’t make a big enough difference. The best manager in the world can’t win without good players.

What Bell can try to do is get everyone in the organization – scouts, front office, coaching staffs – on the proverbial same page. If the Reds want kid pitchers to have a decent change-up before they reach Cincinnati, teach them a damned change-up from the moment they arrive. For example.

AND NOW, A PERSONAL WHINE-O-RAMA:

Dear KC Chiefs:

Not to sound ungrateful, but your parking situation blows.

Yes, I park for free. (I’m also giving free pub to your league’s product; we’ll call it even). But is it too much to ask that if you assign me a lot that said lot contains a space?

Took me an hour to find a spot, once I entered the stadium lots. I asked a parking guy what I might do in the off chance I didn’t find a spot. He said, “That’s a really good question.’’

If it were just Heathen Media/Enemy of the People Me, no one would care and probably no one should. But hundreds of fans trying to park were in my same soup. This happened the last time The Men played at Arrowhead, too.

C’mon, KC. Even Oakland’s better than you, and I’d rather jab a knitting needle in my ear than park anywhere near O.co. or whatever they call that sinkhole just off the freeway.

TRIP REPORT. . . KC’s one of my least favorite Bengals roadies. Flat and dull, overrated BBQ (too sweet), nothing is close to anything else. I found my salvation Saturday night, though, and it made it all worthwhile.

Outlaw Cigar Co.’s southern outpost is in Overland Park, 10 mins from where I stayed. I stopped in early Sat. night, thinking I’d browse, maybe buy, and leave.

Then I saw the smoking room. Overstuffed leather furniture, free pizza, 3 big screens on the back wall, one with OSU-Purdue, the others with Game 7 of the NLCS. I settled in with an AJ Fernandez Lunatic Robusto and stayed three hours.

Maybe you like cigars, maybe you don’t, but when you get the chance to settle into a road Man Cave for 3 hours, you take it. TML says puffitout.

TUNE O’ THE DAY. . . Other than the cigar place, KC remained what it is, among the worst Bengals roadies, a shade above Buffalo. So this one.